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The action shows no signs of slowing down as we head into the busy summer schedule. The most immediate entry is the PGL Major Krakow 2017 Offline Qualifiers, which runs June 29 through July 2.
This event is taking place in Bucharest, Romania, at PGL Studios and features 16 teams all battling for eight places in the PGL Major Krakow 2017. This Valve-sponsored contest has a guaranteed prize pool of $1,000,000, one of the biggest of the year in CS:GO.
Eight teams have already qualified for the July event in Poland. They are:
- Astralis
- Virtus Pro
- Fnatic
- SK Gaming
- Natus Vincere
- Gambit Esports
- North
- FaZe Clan
Half of the 16 teams battling it out in Romania this weekend will join them.
Offline qualifier structure
The offline qualifier will be played in a Swiss system: the eight teams that win three matches will make it through to the finals. Teams can qualify by winning three out of three, four, or five games across five separate rounds of action. Teams with the same record will battle it out in each round until eight teams have won three times and the others are eliminated.
The action is already underway in Romania, and currently Bet365 is offering extensive betting across all five rounds. Here are the 16 teams:
- G2 Esports
- BIG
- Cloud9
- Team Dignitas
- Flipsid3 Tactics
- GODSENT
- HellRaisers
- Team Liquid
- Mousesports
- OpTic Gaming
- PENTA Sports
- Renegades
- Tengri
- TyLoo
- Vega Squadron
- Immortals
Indeed, if the result of the first game is anything to go by, where G2 Esports defeated Immortals 22-20 in an absolutely thrilling encounter, it should be a fantastic few days of CS:GO.
Rift Rivals promises to be a betting bonanza
Taking place in five cities across the globe — Berlin, Kaohsing, Santiago, Ho Chi Minh, and Moscow — the 2017 Rift Rivals competition pits the top three or four teams from each of the Spring Split events against a number of other rivals in this Riot Games tournament.
In total, there are five Rift events, featuring 13 regions and 41 teams. Because each rift contains teams from different qualifying tournaments, they are labeled by color:
- Blue – Features teams from the North American LCS and European LCS (six teams)
- Red – Features teams from the Chinese LPL, Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau LMS and Korean LCK (12 teams)
- Yellow – Features teams from Latin American North, Latin American South and Brazil (six teams)
- Purple – Features teams from South East Asia, Oceania and Japan (nine teams)
- Green – Features teams from CIS/Russia and Turkey (eight teams)
Bet365 is focusing on the primary two rift events, Blue and Red, which tend to feature the top teams from Asia and Europe. Let’s take a closer look at those fields.
Rift Rivals – Blue Section
The Blue section features three teams each from the North American and European LCS qualifying sections. These teams finished in the top three of the 2017 Spring Split.
- North America – Team SoloMid (first), Cloud9 (second), Phoenix1 (third)
- Europe – G2 Esports (first), Unicorns of Love (second), Fnatic (third)
After a single round-robin group stage, the teams will be seeded first through sixth. The fifth and sixth seeds will clash in the first knockout game. The winner will then take on the fourth seed, all the way through to the final where the surviving team will take on the top seed.
In addition to plenty of Match Winner betting on these games in Berlin, Bet365 is also offering odds on which team will win the Blue section:
- G2 Esports, Fnatic – 11/4
- Unicorns of Love – 3/1
- Team SoloMid – 9/2
- Cloud9 – 6/1
- Phoenix1 – 22/1
Rift Rivals – Red Section
The Red section features twice as many teams as the Blue and is arguably the strongest of all the Rift Rivals sections. It boasts teams from the traditional League of Legends powerhouses South Korea and China.
To reflect the strength of these qualifying sections, the top four teams from the Spring Splits have been invited to participate:
- South Korea – SK Telecom T1 (first), KT Rolster (second), Samsung Galaxy (third), Team MVP (fourth)
- TW/HK/MO – Flash Wolves (first), ahq e-Sports Club (second), J Team (third), Machi (fourth)
- China – Team WE (first), Royal Never Give Up (second), Edward Gaming (third), OMG (fourth)
In this qualifier, each of the same-seeded teams will face each other over the first two days of action. The tournament then heads into a number of Relay games over the third and fourth days based on the outcomes over the first two.
Currently, Bet365 is offering plenty of match betting on the first two days.
